When Swallows Fall by Marlow Gloria Davidson

Author:Marlow, Gloria Davidson [Marlow, Gloria Davidson]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Victorian, Gothic
ISBN: 9781628301120
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press, Inc.
Published: 2013-11-05T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

Despite Cade’s inexplicable acceptance of their suspicion, my own mind and heart refused to accept that he could be responsible for one death, much less three, and my resolve to prove his innocence strengthened. For the first time in years, hope for the future beat in my chest, and I longed to believe that Cade and I would face that future together.

The days were quickly passing, however, and a week from now Cade would be taken to the jail to await his trial for Desi’s murder. It would be a very brief trial, based on what everyone considered to be an open-and-shut case, and in all likelihood it would end with Cade’s hanging. A cold empty pit formed in my stomach at the thought, and I groaned in frustration.

I could not stand idly by and watch Cade die for a crime I knew in my heart he didn’t commit. If no one else cared enough to look for another explanation for Desdemona’s death, then it was up to me, and I had decided that my first contact should be with Devlin. He was obviously key to my understanding Desdemona’s death, as well as to the life she’d lived here at Almenara.

Dory entered the room just as I finished lacing up my walking boots.

“Good afternoon,” I said as she bobbed a curtsy and began to clear our lunch away.

“Afternoon, miss. Mister Cade said you were to rest for the rest of the afternoon. You already went against the doctor’s orders going to church this morning.”

“To my knowledge, sitting in church has never done a body any harm, Dory,” I told her as I finished with my shoes. I ignored the dull pain the motion of standing caused my body, and, smoothing my hand over my skirts, I shrugged nonchalantly. “Cade must have misunderstood. I feel fine this afternoon, and I’ve decided to go for a little walk.”

“I suppose a stroll around the garden wouldn’t hurt you,” she said. “It’s a pretty day, and there’s benches around, should you get tired. Would you like me to fetch Mr. Cade? His meeting with the others is over, and he might like to accompany you.”

“No!” My voice was much sharper than I intended, and I offered her a reassuring smile. “I think I may walk a little farther than the garden, and I’m sure Cade has enough to keep him busy today.”

“Do you plan to take quite a long walk, then?”

“I don’t know. That’s what I need you to tell me.”

“What?” she asked cautiously, looking at me as if I were an escaped lunatic she wasn’t quite sure how to handle.

“Do you have any idea where I might find Devlin?”

“Devlin, miss?”

“Yes, the man who painted the picture in Desdemona’s parlor. The man who interrupted her funeral. Does he live nearby?”

“I don’t know, miss. He stayed here when he was painting. After him and Mr. Calvin had it out, he left.”

“Calvin?” I repeated. Did that man drive everyone to fisticuffs?

“I wasn’t there to witness it, but according to my brother, Mr.

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